To Cook
Heat wok and add oil and diced onion, stir fry for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add beaten eggs and let it set slightly before scrambling it to break it up.
Add diced luncheon meat, diced carrots and snake beans, stir fry until fragrant. Add in rice, breaking up any big chunks with the back of the spatula.
Season with white pepper, oyster sauce and soya sauce. Stir through. Taste test and adjust taste to personal liking. Sprinkle with spring onion and serve hot.
Rice
Sesame Balls
To Prep
In a mixing bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour, baking powder and sugar. Pour in the boiling water and stir until the water has mixed with the flour before adding the vegetable oil.
Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes before kneading by hand for a few minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. Allow to rest for another 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces, and roll them into balls. Keep the dough balls covered with a cling film to prevent them from drying out.
Flatten the dough balls into disks and then place 1/2 tsp of red bean paste in to the center and gather the sides and roll into a ball. Set aside and repeat with the remaining dough.
Fill one bowl with water and another bowl with the sesame seeds. Transfer one of the sesame balls in to the water and then quickly transfer the wet ball in to the sesame seed bowl. Coat the balls well and then set them aside for frying.
To Cook
In a wok, heat enough vegetable oil to cook the sesame balls. When the oil has reached a temperature of about 150 degrees Celsius, add the sesame balls one at a time, and fry for about 10 minutes or until golden and puffed up
Transfer the sesame balls on to a drying rack and let cool slightly before serving!
Abalone Porridge (Jeonbok Naejang Jook)
To Prep
Rinse the medium grain (calrose) rice and soak thoroughly in 950ml water for about 2 hrs at room temperature.
Pry the abalone from its shell using a spoon. Take a 1.5cm incision on the end of the abalone closest to the adductor muscle and remove the abalones tooth. Cut open the intestine and remove the debris.
Clean the abalone by rubbing it with salt. Rinse the abalone and separate the intestine. Cut the intestine into small pieces and thinly slice the abalone meat.
To Cook
Heat a flat pan over a medium heat and season with sesame oil. Add the sliced abalone meat and intestine to the pan and saute. Then, add rice and saute for about 1 minute.
Add 1.9L to the flat pan and increase to high heat to make the porridge.
Once the porridge starts boiling, lower to medium heat. Let the porridge continue to cook until the rice grains become extremely soft making the jeonbok naejang jook.
Transfer the jeonbok naejang jook to a serving bowl and garnish with pine nut powder. Serve with salt and soy sauce on the side.
Note: When buying abalone, ensure that they are still alive in their shell, stored on ice or it is still in the water. Make sure your abalone does not have any fishy smell as that is a sign it is not fresh. Quickly refrigerate them in the coldest part of the fridge and store them in a bowl and cover it with a wet cloth. Use within 24 hours.
Fried Rice with XO Sauce
To Cook
Place diced pork into a bowl and add in marinade ingredients. Mix well.
Heat oil in a frying pan. Add pumpkin and fry until cooked. Drain. Add oil in the pan and fry eggs. Toss in rice and fry until well combined. Dish out and set aside.
Add 2 tbsp oil and stir fry pork until cooked. Then, add mushrooms, prawns, scallops, Chinese broccoli and pumpkin. Stir fry for 2 mins. Mix in sauce ingredients and heat through.
Pour over fried rice and serve.
Glutinous Rice Mini Dumplings with Salted Egg Yolk
To Prep
Soak the glutinous rice and mung beans together for 24 hrs and then drain. Add Lee Kum Kee Chicken Bouillon Powder and oil, mix well. Split 1 salted egg yolk into 8 equal portions. Split the remaining ½ of a salted egg yolk into 8 small pieces (for garnishing).
Place pork into a bowl and mix in marinade ingredients. Whip the mixture in one direction until it is about to turn paste-like. Leave in refrigerator to marinate for 30 mins.
Divide the pork into 8 equal portions. Put ⅛ of a salted egg yolk into each portion and roll into a ball. Coat the ball with glutinous rice and mung beans then, add a small piece of egg yolk on top. Repeat with remaining pork portions.
Place the dumplings onto a plate and steam for 15–20 mins or until cooked. Sprinkle the diced spring onions and serve.
Rice Dumplings with Golden Oysters and Dried Scallops
To Cook
Marinate the pork belly with five spice powder overnight. Soak the glutinous rice and mung beans separately for 6 hrs. Soak dumpling leaves and wrapping straws in water for 2 hrs.
Drain glutinous rice and mung beans. Add half of the Lee Kum Kee Chicken Bouillon Powder into the glutinous rice, and the other half into the mung beans. Mix well.
Boil dumpling leaves and wrapping straws for 10 mins before use. Drain well and set aside.
Divide ingredients into two equal portions. Stack two bamboo leaves together and twist to form a funnel shape. Add a layer of glutinous rice, followed by a layer of mung beans. Top with pork belly, 2 golden oysters, dried scallops, 1 salted egg yolk, remaining mung beans and cover with another layer of glutinous rice. Fold the bamboo leaves to completely enclose the filling and form a pyramid shape. Tie securely with the straws. Repeat each step for the other dumpling.
5. Bring water to a boil in a large stock pot. Submerge the dumplings completely in water. Simmer on low heat for 3 hrs. Take off the heat. Keep covered for another 3 hrs. Then serve.
Braised Quails in Soy and Oyster Sauce
To Cook
Melt maltose in 80g hot water and mix thoroughly.
Heat some oil in a saucepan. Sauté ginger, spring onion and other spices until fragrant and put them in a reusable sachet bag. Put red yeast rice in another bag. Put both sachets into stock and add Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce, Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce, Lee Kum Kee Chinese Marinade, sugar and Shaoxing wine. Simmer mixture over low heat for 40 mins.
Immerse quails in sauce mixture and braise over low heat for 20-30 mins. Remove quails and spread maltose on skin of quails evenly when hot. Cut quails into pieces. Serve with more sauce if desired.
Steamed Rice in Lotus Leaf
To Cook
Mix chicken with marinade. Heat oil in a pan and stir fry chicken until cooked. Add dried shrimps, barbecued pork and mushrooms. Stir fry for 2 mins.
Add rice and seasoning mix. Stir well until heated through.
Clean fresh lotus leaf and set aside. If using dried lotus leaf, soak in hot water until softened. Drain.
Place all stir fried ingredients on the lotus leaf and top with spring onions. Wrap. Steam the lotus leaf rice over high heat for 15 mins. Remove and cut open the lotus leaf. Serve hot.
Korean Rice Cakes (Songpyeon)
To Make the Filling
Grind the sesame seeds in a grinder or blender for about 20 secs. Then transfer ground sesame to a bowl and mix in ½ cup of brown sugar and a pinch of salt.
To Make the Dough
Prepare 3 cups of rice powder and sift into a large bowl.
Equally divide the rice powder into 3 bowls. Each bowl should now contain 1 cup of rice powder.
To prepare the basic white dough, add 3 tbsp boiling hot water to the rice powder and mix it with a spatula. When the dough is cool enough to handle, knead for about 5 mins, then wrap with cling film and set aside.
To prepare the green dough, add 1 tsp of ssukgaru (mugwort powder) and 3½ tbsp boiling hot water to the rice powder and mix it with a spatula. When the dough is cool enough to handle, knead for about 5 mins, then wrap with cling film and set aside.
To prepare the pink dough, add a pinch of strawberry Jell-o powder and 3 tbsp boiling hot water to the rice powder and mix it with a spatula. When the dough is cool enough to handle, knead for about 5 mins, then wrap with cling film and set aside.
To Assemble the Songpyeon
Cut off a piece of the dough and roll tightly between your palms in order to make a ball.
Press in to the ball with your thumb to stretch the dough slightly outwards and then use both of your thumbs to expand the opening.
Fill the well with ½ tsp of sesame filling, then seal tightly by squeezing the edges together. When the rice cake is sealed, shape them in to a half moon shape and set aside. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
To Cook
Prepare a steamer by bringing water to boil over high heat. Using pine needles or a damp kitchen cloth, line the bottom of the steamer to stop the rice cakes from sticking to the steamer.
When the water begins to boil, place the rice cakes on to the steamer ensuring that the pieces do not touch each other. Cover the rice cakes with a final, thin layer of pine needles if using.
Cover the steamer and let steam for about 20 mins.
Prepare a bowl of cold water and transfer the rice cakes in to the bowl when they’ve been cooked. Rinse the dumplings and then transfer to a rack to drain.
Lightly coat your hands with the sesame oil and use them to rub the oil on to the rice cakes.
To Serve
Serve immediately and while warm! Enjoy!
Nyonya Fried Rice
To Cook
In a wok, heat 1-2 tbsp cooking oil over medium-high heat. Pour in the egg mixture and stir constantly with a spatula. Keep stirring until eggs are cooked then dish out to set aside.
Heat 3-6 tbsp cooking oil and fry the prawns. When cooked, set aside.
Use the balance of the oil to saute the garlic, dried prawns, shallots and sambal belachan. Add the rice and fry at high heat, keep stirring to avoid burning the rice.
Add the salt, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce.
Add in the prawns, stir in, then dish.
Garnish with sliced omelette, diced spring onions and chilli.
Malaysian Glutinous Rice with Pandan Custard (Kuih Seri Muka)
To Prep
Take ½ of glutinous rice amount, soak for at least 4 hours or overnight. Do not cover.
Soak the blue pea flowers until the water turns blue. Use the blue water to soak the remaining ½ of glutinous rice for at least 4 hrs or overnight. Do not cover.
Line 2 baking pans with banana leaves.
To Make the Rice Layer
Mix the 300ml thin coconut milk and salt. Half the portion and mix each with the white and blue rice until well-combined.
Put the white and blue glutinous rice into the two baking pans separately and add the pandan leaves randomly between the rice.
Steam each portion over high heat until cooked, about 25 mins. Remove from heat and loosen with chopsticks.
Combine both portions of rice in a baking pan, make it flat and compact. Add the 100ml thin coconut milk and steam for 10 mins.
To Make the Custard Layer
Mix all ingredient and strain it. Cool over a double boiler until the custard slightly thickens yet able to pour through a sieve.
Remove the baking pan with rice from steamer and pour in the custard through a sieve. Cover loosely with foil to prevent water dripping on it. Steam for 30-40 mins over medium-low or until custard is firm.
Remove from heat and let cool while covered. Ready to serve when it drops to room temperature.
Moon-viewing Dumplings (Tsukimi Dango)
To Prep
Knead the rice flour while adding warm. The more you knead the dough, the chewier the dango will turn out to be.
Prepare and heat a bamboo steamer.
To Cook
Tear dough into several pieces, and place in steamer to steam on high for 20 mins until the dough centers are warm. Remove from steamer and allow to cool until temperature of dough is cool enough to handle.
Combine the pieces and knead until dough is springy and glossy. If the dough gets hard, add some water while kneading.
Divide the dough and roll into balls of 3-4cm in diameter.
Line a bamboo steamer with parchment paper to avoid the dango from sticking to the base of the steamer. Steam on high for 15 mins. Remove dango from heat, and set aside to cool. They will become glossy when cool.
To serve, arrange and stack dango to form a pyramid – as offering to the moon.